Double Life
by Elf Friend Forever
Summary: One night, Ponyboy gets a strange letter from someone unknown, changing his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Bye Johnny!" Ponyboy yelled to Johnny as he turned into his driveway and Johnny went on to his own home to drop of his stuff quickly and then come back to the Curtis's.  
  
He took out the mail automatically and skimmed through it. They rarely ever got letters; it was mostly junk and bills. This time it was two bills, a whole pile of junk and... a letter.  
  
Ponyboy looked at it with surprise. He turned it over and looked even more surprised when he found that it was addressed to him. He hid it in his pocket, wanting to read it alone at first, and went in, finding his brothers and the gang as was usual for a Friday, since Soda and Darry always took half the day off.  
  
"Come on Pony! Chuck your stuff in our room and go help me!" Soda yelled in a strained voice as he was currently wrestling with Steve.  
  
"Sure!" Ponyboy yelled back over the noise of the music, which was blasting from the box at full volume and the groaning of Steve and Soda on the floor (A/N: Get those dirty thoughts out of your heads you perverts.)  
  
Pony headed for his and Soda's bedroom and threw his stuff n the corner. Just as he was about to leave the room he paused and took the letter out of his pocket and stared at it. Finally he opened it. It read:  
  
Dear Ponyboy,  
  
Come to 1745 Dawn Alley at 2 am. Come alone and don't tell everyone where you are.  
  
Love, You'll know soon  
  
Ponyboy stared at the letter. Meet someone you don't know at midnight in Dawn Alley? Dawn Alley was known for the strange people that walked there. Even the Socs never came there. Once they did. Five of them entered, none returned. It was all over the papers. No one knew what happened and no one was brave and stupid enough to enter the valley.  
  
About a week ago Ponyboy passed the alley with Johnny and a tall, cloaked figure came out of there. They didn't see his face, but it was dark at the time, and the stranger seemed to be giving off some sort of glow. The stranger turned to look at Ponyboy, and though his face seemed to be hidden in shadow Pony got a glimpse of it. It was pale and the eyes were a stunning color of blue. His and the strangers eyes met for a split second. At that moment Pony had received a sudden change of emotion, instead of feeling scared stiff like he had, he suddenly felt warm and sort of, like he was somehow connected to the stranger, but as soon as he broke eye contact, this feeling went away and the old one returned and his heart started beating extra fast again.  
  
Johnny and him had been standing there rooted to the spot, but after the stranger was 10 feet away they ran back to Pony's home.  
  
Pony didn't know what to think. It might be some sort of strange joke by the Socs, or an attempt to kill him by the Socs. Although... the Socs wouldn't write 'love' if their lives depended on it, and they were even more scared to go to Dawn Alley than the Greasers.  
  
He wasn't about to tell his brothers about the letter and spoil anything. What if this was serious and he would ruin it because he told his brothers where he was going. He put the letter back inside his pocket and went back into the living room, where he joined Steve and Soda in wrestling.  
  
"Man, Pony what took you so long? I'm dying down here!!!" Soda yelled through giggles because Steve was holding him down and tickling him.  
  
"Ermm... bathroom break." Pony said as he made another useless attempt at tugging Steve off Soda. He managed to pull Steve back a little but Steve wasn't going to give in easily. He yelled:  
  
"Two-bit! Come help me over here!"  
  
Two-bit let out a roar of joy and jumped on Pony's back, who tumbled over onto Steve, who was already on top of Soda.  
  
Soda let out a groan as the air was knocked out of him.  
  
"Two-bit! You cow! You could do with loosing a few pounds!" Steve yelled.  
  
"No kidding! Two-bit! Get your butt off us!" Pony said.  
  
Soda let out a noise of agreement, since he couldn't talk very well without any air.  
  
"All right, all right! I'm getting up!" Two-bit answered grinning.  
  
* 1:45 AM *  
  
Pony got slowly and carefully out of bed, so as not to wake Soda. He quickly got dressed and went into the living room. He heard a small snort and movement. He whipped around his heart beating fast, only to find Steve, who had just rolled over in his sleep, on the couch. He breathed in relief and walked over to the open window, not wanting to use the door since it would probably wake Steve. He placed a foot on the ledge and pushed himself up and through the window. He paused to make sure that Steve was still asleep.  
  
He then moved toward the street in the direction of Dawn Alley.  
  
He didn't know what madness made him come down here tonight. He just felt a dire need to know who the people that wrote the letter were. He also felt that this would explain something he had not the faintest idea about. He shook the thoughts out of his head. No, he had only come here because of curiosity, nothing more. And yet, he always felt cautiousness along with curiosity... He threw these thoughts out of his head, as he had arrived at the corner of Dawn Alley.  
  
He took a deep breath and plunged into the thick cloud of fog that stood between him and his goal.  
  
Yet, there was nothing frightening that met him here, merely a creepy alley in the middle of the night. He stated searching for 1745, and found it quite quickly. He took another deep breath and knocked. No one answered. He stood there for a few minutes, and then growing impatient, tested the door handle. He gave a soft gasp as it turned freely. He held his hand in place, but didn't open the door, dreading what was on the other side. He summoned up his courage and swung the door open. He let out a scream that was unheard by anyone as he got plunged forward into a mist of glowing color.  
  
***  
  
Some of you might have guessed what's going on, since I gave you a couple of hints, some of you might be completely oblivious to it. Some of you may hate me for what I write next, some of you may love me, you never know, but just to tell you: flames don't bother me. So go ahead, send me one and give me a good laugh. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ponyboy was spun around in a mist of swirling color for mere seconds before he was plunged out of it. He landed on his face. He didn't move for a couple of seconds, being shocked at what had just happened, then coming to himself he stood up and nearly fainted.  
  
He was not in a room as he had expected to be. It was, no other words could describe it, the most beautiful and mysterious thing he had ever seen. He seemed to be inside, and yet he was outside. And it was not night anymore, it was clearly day. But since he was inside and outside at the same time the walls were being shun upon by a light that was mysterious and cheerful at the same time.  
  
He felt numb, weird, lost and confused, and yet, he didn't want to turn back, he wanted to stay here.  
  
"So I see you have come, you made a wise choice Ponyboy Curtis!" A voice rang out from somewhere above. He jumped and looked up, noticing for the first time a small staircase, on which now a man stood. Yet he was different from any man Ponyboy had ever laid eyes upon. He was tall and thin. He was old and yet he was not, his face was handsome and he was smiling. And he wore was wearing a robe, which looked quite royal and the sound of his voice sounded like jingling of bells. As he looked into his green eyes and felt the same warm instantaneous feeling he had toward the stranger. But just like it had been then it vanished instantly.  
  
"Who are you? Where are we?" he yelled, trying to keep his voice strong and tough, while really hiding fear.  
  
"You will know the answer to both those questions very soon. But first you must follow me." The man said back calmly, turned slowly around and walked away.  
  
Ponyboy stood there scared. Where was he? Who was this guy? Why was he so odd?  
  
And yet... this place... it gave him a feeling... a feeling of belonging. Yet a different one than from what he always felt when he was around the gang. His whole life he felt sort of lost on the world, not really knowing where he belonged. He thought then that it had been because of the Socs, but this place, and that person, had made him feel differently. Like this was the place he needed to be in.  
  
He tentatively followed the man. He caught up with him after a few moments and noticed for the first time, that this... creature had pointed ears... pointed!?  
  
"Why are your ears..." he began awkwardly.  
  
"As I said before, you'll know soon." The creature answered and kept on walking.  
  
Soon they walked into a... room? Maybe it was a clearing. Ponyboy had no idea. There were people sitting all around it. Other tall creatures with long hair and pointed ears. Short men with beards. A couple of normal looking men. A small guy with big feet. All sorts of creatures.  
  
Ponyboy was about to stop dead and look around at this unbelievable sight but the first creature put a gentle arm on his shoulder and steered him forward and pushed him into an empty chair.  
  
Everyone was staring at Pony, curiosity written clearly on their faces. Perhaps it was the fact that they were all wearing robes or other medieval type of clothes while Ponyboy was wearing jeans and an oversize T-shirt. Next to him sat two identical boys that looked somewhat like the man who had welcomed him and were eyeing him curiously. Pony felt extremely awkward.  
  
The man, whom Pony figured to be the main, walked up to the middle of the room to where a rock stood.  
  
"Welcome to the Council of Elrond," he said, "You all know that we are here to discuss the matter of the one Ring, but as only few are aware we are also here to discuss the faith of this boy." He motioned to Pony, "He is the one, the one who was raised in the parallel world, only to belong to this one."  
  
Pony was wide eyed by now. So this was another world. And judging but what that dude just said, and he seemed to know what he was talking about, he had been raised in the other... no... the real world while he really belonged to this one. It was impossible.  
  
"What is the proof of that?" a short bearded man shouted, "Trust an elf to mix two boys up!"  
  
At that there was an uproar. All the creatures, whom Pony had guessed were elves, stood up and started arguing with him, yelling at him. One of the twins actually had to restrain the other from jumping on the short men while the elf group on the other side was held back by a handsome tall blonde, blue-eyed man.  
  
"Silence!" an old man roared. Everyone fell silent, and sat down.  
  
"I have enough proof, even if I don't share it with you, dwarf!" Elrond said coolly, "But if you want proof, I shall give it to you all! Ponyboy, come!"  
  
Ponyboy looked freaked out, not knowing what to do he sat there, until one of the twin elves pushed him toward Elrond. Elrond motioned for him to come to the middle next to the rock. Ponyboy did, not knowing what else to do.  
  
The old man suddenly started speaking in some sort of language Pony did not understand. Suddenly an aura of green light surrounded him. Pony felt sick. He tried hard not to gag as he felt a pain in his heart. 'That's it' he thought, 'I'm dead' but he wasn't. Instead the pain subsided and he felt a wonderful feeling throughout his body. The tip of his ears felt tickly. He felt sick again. He closed his eyes and fell on his knees, trying hard not a moan or show any other sign of weakness.  
  
Then it all stopped. There was no more green light. Pony slowly opened his eyes and stood up. He had no idea what had just happened, but he was pretty sure that something had changed. He felt different in any way possible.  
  
He looked around and saw everyone staring at him as though he'd sprouted another head, except for Elrond who was looking like he'd expected this. Ponyboy looked at him and he smiled.  
  
"Let me show you." Elrond said and led him away from the so-called council and into a real room now. At the end stood a mirror and he pushed Pony lightly toward it. Pony obeyed and looked at himself. What he saw nearly made him pass out. He was much taller now, almost matching the height of Elrond. He was wearing some ancient type of clothes, similar to Elronds. His ears were pointed and his hair was longer and had come out of it's greaser style and instead rested on his shoulders. It was now longer, naturally blond, silky and straight. His eyes were now defiantly bright green instead of the mix of gray and green. And his face, was so handsome, even more handsomer than it had been and defiantly more handsome than Sodapop's. But the truly remarkable thing was the glow he seemed to be giving off, which he now noticed Elrond had too, since it was much darker in the room. This whole sight made him feel tingly, but not strange. It felt sort of familiar, like he had it inside of him the whole time, but it was never willing to show himself.  
  
"Yes, it is a wonder," Elrond said, "It has been inside of you your whole life. This is the real you. However unbelievable it may seem it is. You were meant to appear like this. If you will listen, I will explain everything."  
  
Ponyboy gulped and nodded.  
  
"We find ourselves here in Middle-Earth, right at the point we have discovered that a certain dark lord is rising gradually back to his original form..." he talked for a long time about Sauron and the Ring. But finally got to the point where Ponyboy came in.  
  
"Now you, my dear friend, are one of a kind. You are the one who was raised in the parallel world only to belong to this one. And this is the point in your life where you must join on the journey to destroy the ring for good."  
  
"But... what about my brothers and my other life?" Ponyboy said, and finding, to his shock, that along with his appearance his voice had changed too. You could still recognize it as his, but it was different, with a definite smoothness and beauty adding to his speech.  
  
"Well, that was the hardest part about this whole thing for us elves. But we performed ancient magic, which ended us up with this: Every night, at midnight in the other world, you will transform into this form. As soon as you are alone and out of sight of anyone, a portal will open. A portal, which you must step into to reach this world. Here you will find yourself fully awake and ready to face the day. As soon as you are asleep in this world you will be jolted back into that one, as though no time has passed. There you will feel sleepy again and will rest peacefully until the next day."  
  
"But what makes you think I want to?" Ponyboy said, although he knew he wanted to. And since he would see his brothers and the gang anyway, what was the harm?  
  
"You must in order for the two worlds to stay in function. And besides... don't you want to?" Elrond smiled.  
  
And Ponyboy smiled back, that told Elrond all he needed to know.  
  
"Alright then, now we need to get you a weapon." He said.  
  
"Excuse me?" Ponyboy said, eyes widening.  
  
"You didn't really expect to go on such a dangerous adventure without a weapon. In this body you are much stronger and posses more agility but that wont help you much when you're facing an army. Now..." Elrond crossed the room and opened a drawer and pulled out a magnificent bow. It was smooth and shiny and there was a name embedded upon it. As Ponyboy took the bow from Elrond he saw that it was 'Ponyboy Curtis'. He gaped at it as Elrond passed him a set of bows.  
  
"It's beautiful isn't it? This will be your weapon." He said.  
  
"But I don't know how to use it." Pony said bluntly. Elrond laughed and pointed at the tiniest dot on the wall.  
  
"Just try. Try to hit that dot."  
  
Ponyboy, feeling stupid, loaded an arrow into the bow and aimed for the dot. Surprisingly he held his hands steadier than when holding a blade and he could see the dot better than he would have done. He supposed it had something to do with changing into an elf. He released the arrow and looked up.  
  
To his shock the dot had disappeared to be replaced by his own arrow. Elrond laughed softly and called:  
  
"Legolas!"  
  
Another elf came in, the one who held back some of the other elves at the council.  
  
"Ponyboy, this is Legolas Greenleaf. Since we wont be leaving for the journey right away, you must need some background of this world and this whole place. Legolas will see to that." Elrond explaned and nodded to Legolas.  
  
"It is a pleasure meeting you!" Legolas said stretching out his hand.  
  
"Same here," Pony answered tentitavly, shaking it, not being used to such formalities. He looked at Legolas and realized something.  
  
"You're the one I saw walking out of Dawn Alley a week ago!" he said.  
  
"Yes, indeed, that was me. I am sorry a scared you," Legolas said smiling, "But now come, I will introduce you to Rivendell and the folks around.  
  
Ponyboy walked out of the room with him.  
  
They walked along, Legolas showing him the different sights. He introduced him to the people who would be coming to the journey with Pony, which included Legolas.  
  
"We will leave tomorrow, so you have all of today to look around and get to know these people, unless it's that dwarf over there" Legolas pointed to a dwarf who's name was Gimli, "Dwarves and Elves don't get along, and since you are an elf now I advice you not to get too friendly with him."  
  
Legolas left after a while, letting Pony walk around by himself.  
  
'This won't do any harm' Ponyboy thought to himself. And this sounds important to these people.'  
  
He was convinced. His brothers and the gang would never know.  
  
Ponyboy was walking along a new hallway when he heard footsteps coming his way. He whipped around and saw one of the twins, who was called Elladan, or Elrohir, whatever, almost no one was able to tell them apart anyway, as Legolas had told him.  
  
"Hello Ponyboy, you are to come to dinner with me in the dining hall" the twin said.  
  
"Sure. Which twin are you again?" Ponyboy asked.  
  
"I am Elladan." The elf said. He went off and Pony followed him. They reached a pair of big doors and Elladan walked through them, Ponyboy followed. They found themselves in a magnificent room with a high ceiling. They went through another room and came into what looked like the dining room. It had a long table in the middle where elves were sitting, eating and laughing. No dwarves, no hobbits, only elves except for one man who was sitting freely next to Elrond. This was Aragorn as Pony had learned and he was taken in by Elrond and raised in Rivendell. The elves called him Estel and Pony decided he would too. Soft and beautiful music was playing. In his original state Pony would have thought this music to be not at all to his liking, but now he found it quite enjoyable and quite peaceful, much unlike the rock music he listened to at home.  
  
He sat down next to Legolas and tucked in. The food was great, and not pizza great, but delicious home cooked great. After a while he found himself becoming dozy and he nearly feel asleep in his seat. But Legolas poked him.  
  
"It is not safe to fall asleep where you could wake at any moment. Once you fall asleep you will be transport back to your world and if someone wakes you here then in that world you will get thrown back here.." He explained and Pony nodded.  
  
After dinner, Elrond led Ponyboy to his room.  
  
"Remember," he said to Ponyboy, "You will be transported back to the spot where you were last in your world as soon as you fall asleep. Since the portal you came through was not the portal you will normally be using, it will still be night. Here, take this."  
  
Elrond handed Ponyboy a brooch. It was green and silver and in the shape of a leaf.  
  
"Always at midnight a portal will open as soon as you are out of sight of anyone, but your appearance will not linger. Make sure you are alone at midnight. This brooch will glow as soon as your transformation starts and finish when it's over! It will also be the only thing that you can posses in both worlds."  
  
"I understand" Ponyboy said  
  
Elrond paused, "You must be tired. It has been a long day for you. Sleep now."  
  
He left the room. Ponyboy stared at the ceiling thinking:  
  
'This is the beginning, of a double life'  
  
And before he knew it, he drifted off into what he thought was sleep.  
  
Please Review! 


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